Paint compound/polishing questions

[62440]

Never had a car that l had wanted to detail before. My car was painted last summer and I'll call it a fair $5000 paint job. It had some water spots from a eruptiong rad caused by a bad rad cap. I bought a Works brand 10" random orbital 20 volt polisher. Instuctions were minimal for application. It came with a Terry cloth pad and a wool pad. I assumed the wool was for polishing. I used Meguias ultimate compound. I don't know if l lucked out or not, but it looks great. I looked at youtube before l did this and came away more confused. Is the wool pad more aggressive than the terrycloth ? I would of thought the wool would be for final polishing

 

[diesel_lv]

Watch the videos from these guys. Pretty detailed. Chemical Guys

 

[zyzzyx]

Lots of variables! What type of paint?
Single stage?
Base coat/clear coat?
How many coats of clear?
Wool pads are for compounding, Foam pads are for finishing and swirl mark removal.
You need to "Color sand" first with 1000 wet. Maybe even 2000. All depends on the variables!

 

[62440]

The paint is base coat, clear coat and l think the painter said 4 or 5 coats clear. My car isn't a show car and I'm 74 so there won't be any wet sanding. My polisher only came with two pads, a wool type bonnet and a terrycloth bonnet. It might be microfiber but l doubt it. I thought the wool would be for polishing so l used the cloth pad and it looks pretty good. Is there much difference between the wool and cloth ? I'm wondering if it's worth the bother polishing before l wax or just go for it. It looks pretty good now. I plan on using Turtle Wax, Ceramic Hybrid Solutions
This is from last summer.

 

[69L48Z27]

Wools is for cutting. It’s all ‘polishing’ but most systems use wool as the first compound cut. Then you move to polishes typically with foam. Never used anything microfiber or terry cloth. I would assume they are the polishing pads.

 

[Canadian1968]

There is "cutting " and there is polishing / buffing.

Wool pad is your most agressive. Foam pads follow with progress firmness ( firm= more agressive ). A foam pad will create heat which can be useful and potentially harmful as well ( experiance comes in )

The terrycloth is for waxing or final buff

If all you are trying to do is remove some water spots. A good compound and the wool pad will get the job done .

Only problem with wool is it will leave some pretty agressive swirl marks. Most noticeable on a black car like yours .

It will need to be followed with a machine polish / swirl remover for most peoples liking .

 

[62440]

Ok, l got now. Thanks Guy's. l still have the doors and trunk left and I'll use the wool. Should be interesting to see if there is a noticeable difference. Oh, and the car isn't really black, it depends on the sun.

 

[zyzzyx]

So, If you won't be wet-sanding the car, the painter must have really taken his time on the
car and sanded the car before the last few coats of clear! Four to five coats of clear is a fair
amount of material. Surely there are some dust & dirt spots that have to be sanded & buffed?
If not, he has a great spray booth! The car looks good, and I think you got a great job for your
money. Yeah, swirl marks come out with a black foam pad. here's how the ratings go: Yellow
is a coarse pad. Orange is a compounding pad, and Black is for finishing. Try to use a waffled
pad for taking out the swirl marks. Looks nice! Good luck.

 

[62440]

No my paint is far from great. The reason I'm not wet sanding is l don't have the energy or the experience to do it and I'm to cheap to spend the money for someone to do it. My polisher doesn't have foam pads it came with a synthetic wool bonnet and a terrycloth bonnet. It's a 20 volt "Works" polisher for about $100 l have to say l quite like it.

So, If you won't be wet-sanding the car, the painter must have really taken his time on the
car and sanded the car before the last few coats of clear! Four to five coats of clear is a fair
amount of material. Surely there are some dust & dirt spots that have to be sanded & buffed?
If not, he has a great spray booth! The car looks good, and I think you got a great job for your
money. Yeah, swirl marks come out with a black foam pad. here's how the ratings go: Yellow
is a coarse pad. Orange is a compounding pad, and Black is for finishing. Try to use a waffled
pad for taking out the swirl marks. Looks nice! Good luck.